All Heavenly destiny reduced to ashes
Chapter 452 - 83: Ancestral Dragon Not a Dragon? Total Annihilation of Demon Shedding (Extra Long - , Taking a Day Off Tomorrow)_3

Chapter 452: Chapter 83: Ancestral Dragon Not a Dragon? Total Annihilation of Demon Shedding (Extra Long Chapter, Taking a Day Off Tomorrow)_3

An Jing raised his hand and, with Spirit Qi, traced out the form of a dragon in mid-air, then he outlined the spine within the dragon’s body, before erasing the exterior flesh and blood and skin, leaving only the shape of the True Dragon Spine.

An Jing furrowed his brows, "How is this...so much like a tree?"

"Instead of saying it’s a dragon, it’s more like a tree!"

Indeed, if one stripped away the other flesh and vessels, the appearance of the True Dragon Spine looked exactly like a tree.

The spine was like the trunk, with various nerves and blood vessels branching out like roots, permeating the chest, abdomen, limbs, and even the dragon spine and dragon head, which were like branches and leaves...

"Look!" An Jing turned the True Dragon Spine to another angle and stood it upright—it looked like a sturdy, towering tree!

"Hm?" Subdue Evil voiced his confusion, "What’s so strange about this?"

"Ah?" An Jing had not expected Subdue Evil to react this way; he was taken aback, "Isn’t this the True Dragon Spine? Doesn’t it look like a tree...don’t you find that odd?"

"But..." Subdue Evil didn’t understand, "Why is it strange for a dragon to look like a tree? Dragons are the kings of True Spirits, inherently embracing everything."

"Let alone trees, seaweed too—don’t you think that the True Dragon Spine also resembles seaweed, mycelium, and moss?"

"These intricate vascular root systems, rooted in the world, drawing Spirit Qi from all living things, and converging into Dragon Qi, isn’t this the essence of the True Dragon Spine?"

Subdue Evil was puzzled because with An Jing’s talent, he should have been able to identify the essence of the True Dragon Spine long ago, but for some reason, An Jing seemed to have a large bias against dragons, losing his past ability to deduce by analogy, as if he stubbornly believed that dragons should be some kind of animal... How strange, could it be the mistaken perceptions given to him by Innate Wisdom?

And then, An Jing was completely stunned.

Yes, right... He had fallen into the knowledge-obstacle of his past life’s memories. In Embracing the Void, dragons were the ancestors of True Spirits. What form they took shouldn’t be conjectured by his own fixed notions, not to mention that in his past life there had been talk of cat dragons, horse dragons, dragon trees, and countless cloud dragons, thunder dragons, sea dragons, and wind dragons.

It was true, the True Martial Spine was a nation, the True Dragon Spine looked like a tree... why couldn’t it be a dragon? What form did the Ancestral Dragon actually take? Did the appearance of the Ancestral Dragon really match the dragons as he imagined? Could it be that the Ancestral Dragon was very likely a tree that looked like a dragon but was able to move and fly?

If that was the case, the process whereby the Ancestral Dragon gave rise to the various True Spirits might not be as he imagined, involving some sort of enlightenment, but perhaps a simple product of ecological cultivation?

No, no, no... The shock was a bit too much.

These messy thoughts flickered through An Jing’s mind, and he truly realized that, besides the human incarnation in his present life, Jin Yanhua, and his Half-Dragon Demon Shedding form, he had indeed never seen any proper dragon!

"Thank you, Subdue Evil, for I had just fallen into a knowledge-obstacle," he said.

Coming back to his senses, An Jing exhaled. He suddenly found that if he hadn’t researched and learned something firsthand, he really had no right to contemplate it: "Next time, I need to ask Ruohui to share more of her images of dragons with me. How can I analyze and learn the True Dragon Spine if I have not seen a dragon?"

Although it was just a cursory glance, An Jing had gained much from the books. He discovered the weakness of the Half-Dragon Demon Shedding and his own knowledge-obstacle.

Cultivation was just like that; enhancing one’s abilities was a path to strength, and recognizing one’s and the enemy’s flaws was also a path to strength.

Seizing this momentum, An Jing immediately set out without any delay for Broken Blade Mountain.

The first one he found was the Mountain Forest Demon Spirit of Broken Blade Mountain.

The Mountain Forest Demon Spirit was, in fact, not difficult to locate. An Jing directly rode Tengshuang White and used Spiritual Power to vibrate the atmosphere, transmitting it to the crowns of the vast expanse of forest trees.

Before long, a will that seemed to have just awoken from slumber contacted An Jing, with a hint of irritation: [Whoever comes... do you not know that we are in hibernation?]

"I am An Jing, the temporary City Lord of Linjiang City in Da Chen."

Learning from the lesson of his interaction with Snow Climbing Tooth, An Jing immediately declared his official title. The Mountain Forest Demon Spirit was taken aback for a moment, and then responded with proper decorum: [We belong to the Demon Division of Da Chen Northern Border, under the command of Broken Blade General as enlisted soldiers and also as the Great Mountain Lord, Weng Cuiyu.]

When communicating with Demon Spirits, it was necessary to inform each other of one’s official positions within Da Chen. This was recorded in the rules of Da Chen’s Demon Division.

——Sure enough.

An Jing thought to himself that these Demon Spirits were all incorporated into Da Chen, no wonder Broken Blade Mountain had been so peaceful for so many years; it turned out that these mountain lord spirits had all been pacified.

Looking at it this way, the Emperor of Da Chen was not only the sovereign for humans but also the king of True Spirits for all the demons of Da Chen—no wonder the Ancestral Dragon Hall listed the Emperor’s Blood of Da Chen as part of the ’dragon’ lineage; perhaps the dragon species from the beginning had little to do with bloodlines, which also coincides with the essence of Demon Core and Demon Spirit.

[So it’s the temporary City Lord An Jing... Have you met Snow Climbing Tooth?]

Upon calming down, Weng Cuiyu quickly noticed the Earth Vein and Snow Climbing Tooth’s Qi on An Jing and softened his tone, [May I ask what urgent matter requires disturbing my slumber? As the Frost Calamity grows stronger, it will be difficult for us to survive this winter without hibernating. Can you take responsibility for the consequences?]

Although more amicable, Weng Cuiyu was still holding An Jing accountable for awakening him without good reason. An Jing wasted no time explaining the matter of Demon Shedding in the Primordial Spirit Cave.

To his surprise, Weng Cuiyu became angry: [You as the temporary City Lord, how dare you make reckless accusations against your superior? Where is your evidence? How can you dare say that the Broken Blade General is tainted by Demonic Qi, turned into a demon, and left behind four Demon Sheds?]